It’s summertime and we’re slowly reopening from the Covid-19 quarantine. Since most of our travel plans are nonexistent, we’ve been exploring day trips nearby. Upon a friend’s recommendation, we ventured out to Fort Yargo State Park in Winder and were able to also pick blueberries at Fleeman’s Farm nearby.
The Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area reopened in May after the mandated shelter-in-place restrictions lifted. We jumped at the chance to hike one of our favorite trails at the Vickery Creek Unit in Roswell, a northern suburb of Atlanta.
Cost, Fees & Parking
Parking is $5 per car if you park at the lot at 400 Riverside Rd, which is under the Chattahoochee River NRA (National Park Service) jurisdiction. Parking is free with an annual National Park Pass ($80) or an annual Chattahoochee River NRA Pass ($40).
As pandemic restrictions ease, we’ve been exploring places closer to home and thankfully, the Georgia State Parks system provides plenty of outdoor activities. This week, we hiked at F.D. Roosevelt (FDR) State Park in Pine Mountain, GA.
Ths 9,000-acre park lies 90 miles southeast of Atlanta. And since it’s near Callaway Gardens (one of my favorite spots), you’d think I’d know this park inside and out. I don’t. Up until this trip, I’d only taken the scenic drive starting across Highway 27 from the Callaway Gardens Country Store.
The drive follows along the ridge of Pine Mountain, offering several small scenic overlooks of Callaway Gardens on the left and Pine Mountain Valley on the right. But the drive only scratches the surface of Georgia’s largest state park.
Since the Georgia State Parks are open and our state is lifting shelter-in-place restrictions, we chose to hike at Cloudland Canyon State Park. Located 120 miles northwest from Atlanta, it’s almost in Tennessee near Chattanooga.
Dear Hubbie (DH) and I hiked the rim trail years ago and more recently, we took the whole family on a Wild Cave tour. Click here to read the article “Muddy Adventures” I wrote for Atlanta Parent magazine.